Furnace draft controller



H. M. BROWNE. FURNACE DRAFT CONTROLLER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. B. 1920.

1,405,749. Patented Feb. 7, 1922.

' 3 SHEETS-SHEET I. S 1 4/ f 42 46 I 41 l J6 I A I I 46 1 I m. I w 0 I H. M. BROWNE.

v FURNACE DRAFT CONTROLLER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 8. 1920.

1 .4O5,749. Patented Feb; 7, 1922.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

J! .1 J2 v a o o 40 a H M. BROWNE.

FURNACE DRAFT CONTROLLER. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 8, 1920.

1 ,405,749, Patented Feb. 7, 19 22.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

HUGH M. BROWNE, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ASSIQNOR OF ONE- FIFTH TO ALEXANDER TACQNELLI, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

FURNACE DRAFT CONTROLLER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 7, 1922.

Application filed September 8, 1920. Serial No. 408,821.

trolling dampers ,orrfire doors or both of furnaces, and more especially to that class which is for the purpose of automatically or manually opening and closing from a distant point at a predetermined or desired time one or more dampers or furnace door of a furnace after the same have been adjusted, opened or closed for the night or, period when the furnace fire has been checked or shut down.

The object of the invention is to provide a device of the character above referred to in which any one or both of the lower and rear dampers of a furnace may be positively controlled automatically or manually from a distant point and the fuel door closed in a simple and efficient manner and without the 7 exercise of much skill or time.

Further object of the invention is to devise a furnace door and damper controller which can be quickly and readily applied to all the existing forms of furnace heaters without disturbing in any way the present installation or arrangement of said furnaces, and said controller may be applied at a minimum of expense and without any special tools or parts not found in the open market.

Other objects and advantages of the in-' vention will appear from the detailed disclosure of the construction and relation of V the several parts and mode of assembling and operating the same to be hereinafter glven.

The invention consists of structural characteristics and relative arrangements of elements which will behereinafter more fully described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawingsjin which similar reference characters indicate the same parts in the several figures: s

' Figure 1, is a perspective view showing the installation of the invention to the dampers and fuel door of a furnace;

Figure 2 is an enlarged plan view of the controller with the difierent actuating parts set to be released for closing the dampers and shutting the fuel door;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on line III-III of Fig. 2; V

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 2,

showing the position the actuating parts assume after being released from their set posltion;

Figure 5 is an end view of Figure 2 and with parts set; and

Flgure 6 1s a diagrammatlc showing of the electric circults or wlrlng for energizing the means for releasing the actuating parts controlling the dampers and fuel door.

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings, 10 is the furnace provided with the lower and rear dampers 11 and 12 and fuel door 13, as is common in small heating plants. Secured near and preferably in an upright position in the rear of the furnace 10 is provided the improved controller 14 having its several coacting parts fastened to a base plate 15, as shown. Said controller is equipped with three independent spring actuated pivoted arms 16, 17 and 18, each of which arms is pivotally supported in suitable brackets 18, 18; and provided with coiled spring 19." as shown in Figures 1 and 2. 20, 21, 22 and 23 are detents pivotally connected to the base plate 15, by means of screw eyes or brackets 24:, 25, 26 and 27 respectively, and are so proportioned and arranged to have their outer ends pass under and engage hooks or projections, detents 20 and 21 enthe detent 23 when said detent 23 engages its hook 30, as shown in Figure 2. 39 is a switch in the electric circuit and is closed by the pivoted arm 17 when the same is engaged by its detent 21, as shown in Figure 2.

10, 40, are rubber pads secured to the base plate 15 against which strike the spring actuated pivoted. arms 16, 17 and 18 when preferably freed from their detents and passing from the positions shown in Figure 2 to those shown in Figure 4.

The pivoted arm 16 is connected by means of a cable or chain 41 passing over pulleys 42 and 43 to the lower draft door 11, and arm 17 is connected to the fire or fuel door 13 in a like manner by means of the cable 44 passing over similarly arranged pulleys 45,46, and 46',as clearly shown in Figure 1. Arm 18 is connected with a cable 47 passing over a pulley 48 and attached to a pivoted hook 49 adapted to releasably hold the rear damper 12 in an elevated or open position, as shown in Figure 1.

50 and 51 are binding posts for receiving the wires 52 and 53 from any suitable source of direct electric current for energizing the electro-magnet 36.

54 is a clock which may be set to close the circuit at any predetermined time and 55 is a push button for closing the circuit manually and independently of the clock, and may be placed in any part of the house and within reach of a person lying in bed if so desired, as is common in this class of inventions and needs no further description.

The preferred manner of arranging the electric circuits is shown in Figure 6, in which 56 is the source of electric energy and the current, as will be readily seen is made to pass from the battery 56 either through the clock 54 or push button 55 to binding post 50 through the detent 23 and hook 30 through the electro-magnet 36 to binding post 51 and back to the other pole of the battery 56. Should the electric connections between or through the detent 23 and hook 30 be imperfect, and as a precaution to have a good circuit at all times through the electro-magnet 36, a secondary circuit is provided from binding post 50 to and through the switch 39 when depressed by arm 17 to the hook 30, through the electro-magnet 36 to the binding post 51 and back to the other pole of battery 56, as will be readily seen and understood.

The manner of setting and using the controller is as follows: The trip lever 31 is forced down against the action of its coiled spring 33 and held in this depressed position with its coiled spring 33 compressed by the pivoted detent 23 engaging the bent end 34 of said lever 31, after the free end of said detent 23 is adjusted to engage'the bent end 38 of the armature 37 and passed under the hook 30, .as shown in Figure 2. After this the arm 17 is forced down against the action of its coiled spring 19 in the same manner as that of the trip lever 31 and held in posit1on by means of the detent 21 engaging its hook or projection 28, when by means of the cable 44, the fuel or fire door 13 will be capable of being adjusted in the open posit1on shown in Figure 1.

Arm 16 is similarly placed in position and held in its adjusted position by means of detent 20 likewise passing under hook or projection 28, and the connections by means of the cable 41 will permit the lower draft door 11 to be closed, as shown in Figure .1. Arm 18 is likewise retained in position, as shown in'Figure 2, by means of the detent 22 passing over it and hooked under the hook 29 and by means of the hook 49, the rear damper 12 can be held open against the action of gravity as readily seen.

After the arms 16, 17, and 18 are adjusted and held in position, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, and the electro-magnet 36 is energized by closing of the electric circuit, either by the automatic action of the clock 54 or manual depression of button 55, the move ment of armature 37 towards the electromagnet 36 and through its bent end 38 causes the detent 23 to be unhooked from its hook 30, which permits the trip lever 31 to quickly snap by the action of spring 33 and permit its bent end 34 to disengage the free ends of detents 20 and 21 from the hook 28, while at the same time the bent end 35 of lever 31 disengages the end of detent 22 from its hook 29, when said arms 16, 17 and 18, will snap back with their connected cables 41, 44

and 47 and strike against the rubber pads 40, and'all the parts will assume the position shown in Figure 4. This action of the arms 16, 17 and 18 by means of their cable connections will cause the lower draft door 11 tobe elevated or opened, the fire or fuel door 13 closed, and the rear'draft door 12 also permitted to drop or be closed, as will be readily understood and hence cause the fire in the furnace to start burning and produce the necessary heat to take'the chill off a house in which the furnace fire has been checked during the night.

While I have shown and described the operation of the three arms 16, 17 and 18 and controlling the bottom and rear dampers 11 and 12 and fuel door 13, any one or two of said dampers and door may be actuated by setting the particular controlling arm or arms and the operation isthe same as just explained.

From the foregoing disclosure of the construction, and arrangements of parts and mode of operation of the controller all the advantages and objects indicated in the 3 a plurality of spring-actuated pivoted arms,

means for conecting each of said arms to a separate furnace draft regulator, a detent for each of said arms for engaging and holding said arms against movement by their springs, a trip lever adapted to disengage a plurality of said detents and release a plurality of said pivoted arms, a second de-- tent engaging and holding said trip lever from disengaging one of said detents, and means for disengaging said second detent from said trip lever to disengage one of said detents and permit the pivoted arms to actuate and operate the separate draft regulators.

2. A furnace draft controller comprising a pivoted arm, means for actuating said arm, an electric switch controlled by said arm, means for connecting said arm to a furnace draft regulator, a primary detent for engaging and holding said arm against movement by the means for actuating the same, a trip lever adapted to disengage said detent from and release said pivoted arm, a second detent engaging and holding said trip lever from disengaging said primary detent, and means for disengaging said second detent from said trip lever to disengage the primary detent and permit the pivoted arm to actuate and operate the draft regulator.

3. A furnace draft controller comprising a. plurality of independent pivoted arms each of which arms has means for actuating the same, independent means for connecting each of said arms with an independent furnace draft regulator, a primary detent for each of said pivoted arms for engaging and holding said arms against movement by the means for actuating the same, a trip lever adapted to disengage said detents from and release said pivoted arms, a second detent engaging and holding said trip lever from disengaging said primary detents and means for automatically engaging at a predetermined time said second detent from said trip lever to disengage the primary detents and permit the pivoted arms to actuate and 0 rate the draft regulators.

4. furnace draft controller comprising a plurality of pivoted arms each of which arms has means for actuating the same, means for independently connecting each of said arms with a separate furnace draft regulator, a plurality of hooks,a primary detent for each of said pivoted arms and engaging one of said hooks and holding said arms against movement by the means for actuating the same, a trip lever adapted to disengage said detents from and release said pivoted arms, a second detent engaging one of said hooks and holding said trip lever from disengaging said primary detents and means for disengaging said second detent from said trip lever to disengage the primary detents and permit the pivoted arms to actuate and operate the draft regulators.

5. A furnace draft controller comprising a plurality of pivoted arms, springs for actuating said arms, means for independently connecting each of said arms with a separate furnace draft regulator, a plurality of hooks, a primary detent for each of said pivoted arms and engaging one of said hooks and holdin said arms against movement by said springs, a trip lever adapted to disengage said detents from and release said pivoted arms, a second detenrt engaging one of said hooks and holding said trip lever from disengaging said primary detents and an electrically controlled means for disengaging said second detent from said trip lever to disengage the primary detents and permit the pivoted arms to actuate and operate the draft regulators.

In testimony whereof I afiix m signature HUGH M. B OWNE. 

